How about starting the new year with simplicity and comfort? This recipe for Chinese Smoked Chicken is one that I found in the October 1992 issue of Bon Appétit. It’s a dish with easy prep steps done ahead of time, making it a good match for busy weeknights. The simple ingredients are familiar Asian pantry items. Together they create a smoky, tender chicken dish that only needs a side of rice and a vegetable to make a great meal.
While a lot of Asian cooking involves stir-frying ingredients, this dish uses an oven cooking bag to work its magic. I remember my mom using oven cooking bags to make pot roast and vegetables when I was growing up. But it’s not a a cooking tool that I use very often. Still—I have to admire the versatility of the cooking bag. With this dish, it serves as a mixing bowl, marinade container, and baking vessel. After you’ve mixed the marinade ingredients and sealed the bag, the chicken can soak up the flavors while refrigerated for a few hours or even overnight.
Once the bird is in the oven, the bag captures a lot of the steam during the baking process. (Some steam escapes via the vents cut in the top of the bag prior to baking. Alert: your house will smell wonderful as this bakes!) The chicken emerges from the oven juicy and very flavorful.
I made very slight adaptations to the original recipe, adding an extra green onion and half of a sliced red jalapeño to the marinade and reducing the amount of liquid smoke a smidge.
We enjoyed this chicken with steamed brown rice and an Asian cabbage slaw. Simple and comforting, yes. Happy New Year!
Chinese Smoked Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons dry white wine
- 2 green onions chopped
- 1/2 red jalapeno seeds and membrane removed, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 3 to 4-pound chicken
- 1 large cooking bag
- steamed rice
- sliced green onions
Instructions
- Combine first 8 ingredients in cooking bag. Massage the ingredients from the outside of the bag to ensure that the sugar, onions, ginger, and chili pepper are distributed throughout the liquid.
- Add the chicken to the cooking bag and seal the bag tightly. Rotate the bag to coat the chicken thoroughly with the marinade.
- Refrigerate the bagged chicken for at least 3 hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Set bag with chicken (breast side up) on a cookie sheet. Cut 5 small vents in the top of the bag.
- Bake until chicken is tender and brown, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
- Open bag and pour juices into a bowl. Cut the chicken into serving pieces and arrange on a platter.
- Skim fat from the top of the pan juices. Pour a bit of juice over the chicken pieces. Garnish with green onions.
- Serve with rice, passing remaining juice separately.
Forgot to note that the soy sauce also has to be GF, oops.
Not only was the chicken amazing, but the soup I made from the leftovers was even better. I simmered the carcass and juices in water, then added cabbage, carrots, celery and crimini mushrooms to the stock. It was heavenly. Thank you Dawn for all your wonderful posts. Oh, and for any celiacs out there, this recipe is also gluten free (as long as your hoisin sauce is GF).
Love this idea, Sue!
The pictures (and the food) came out beautifully, Dawn! I’m so impressed 🙂
This looks delicious, Dawn! I made a note in my meal planner to try it soon. Thank you!